He Loves Her
by laffers18
Summary: Booth and Hodgins meet up after 5 years of silence and some home truths are told. OS


A/N I know i'm supposed to be writing Who Is She but this wouldn't leave me alone!

It's a bit angsty...i'm not a massive fan of Booth's right now...for all he's done/all he is going to do and musie wanted to make him suffer! It was in exchange for a new chapter of WIS!

Let me know what you think, it's different than anything else i have written.

**He Loves Her**

Jack Hodgins approached the door to the diner cautiously. It had been over 6 years since he'd last stepped foot in there and he was dreading it. So much time had passed, so much had happened. Add to the fact that part of him was eagerly anticipating his coming meeting, where as the other part of him was urging him to turn around and go back home...to the wonderful woman waiting for him.

He pushed the door to the diner open and stepped over the threshold. He peered around and his lips curved into a small smile. After so long, he'd expected it to be different, but not a single thing had changed. Same tables...same chairs...same decor...same smell...and by the looks of it same waitresses! His eyes roamed the diner taking it all in, when he noticed the man sat at a familiar table. Jacks gaze hardened, taking in the figure before him. The man looked...older...and tired. Very very tired. It had been five years since he'd seen him, and the memory he had was of a younger man...and by the sad slump of his shoulders he had also been a happier man. It was this which reaffirmed the fact to Jack that he was meeting a stranger. He may have known him once, but this man...this man was nothing to him.

Jack's hardened gaze continued to watch him, and he was tempted to turn around and leave again. He didn't owe this stranger a thing and was struggling to remember why he agreed to come. Before he made a final decision, the stranger glanced up and their eyes clashed. Vibrant blue meeting the once sparkling brown. Jack waivered slightly with his decision to treat this man like the stranger he had become. The blank look in his eyes...the almost dead look...whatever he had done in the past, it still pained Jack to see him like that. At one time they were friends. They eyed each other across the diner before the man motioned to the seat opposite him, indicating that Jack should sit. Jack slowly walked towards the table, and slid into the vacant seat opposite. The two men continued to stare at one another in silence until...

"You're looking well Jack" the man spoke softly, a slight smile curving on his lips.

"I wish I could say the same to you. Hard couple of years Booth? Wife not treating you right?" Jack said sarcastically, forcibly reminding himself of his reasons for disliking the man in front of him.

Booth lowered his gaze, his lips flattening into a straight line. With two questions Jack had set the tone for this meeting, and Booth acknowledged that fact to himself and really...he couldn't blame the man. If their roles had been reversed, he'd have probably hit him by now, so he had to admire Jacks restraint. He was brought out of his internal musings by the arrival of the waitress, and both he and Jack ordered themselves a coffee. Booth waited for the waitress to take their order and leave before addressing Jack.

"I'm divorced Jack. Have been now for...coming up to 3 years."

"I'm sorry" Jack said, causing Booth to let out a harsh laugh.

"Who you kidding Jack? Sorry...really? Surely you'd be jumping for joy?"

Jack looked at Booth expressionlessly.

"No I am Booth. Regardless of what I thought of you or your chosen bride it's said when any marriage ends. I should know."

Booth sent him a questioning look.

"You and Angela...?" he trailed off, leaving it a question.

"Divorced for 4 years now...went downhill just after your wedding actually."

"I'm sorry Jack. I thought you and her were 'it', you know?" Booth said, and Jack could hear the sincerity on his voice.

"Yeah well...we got married too soon. Our issues were still issues...just masked. Your wedding just reminded us of that." Jack stated no sadness in his voice, just an acceptance of a past mistake.

Booth looked at him in confusion, unsure of exactly how his farce of a wedding could have done that. Jack saw Booth didn't understand and debated with himself, trying to decide whether to continue. He stayed silent for a moment before continuing.

"Seeing you get married...especially after we hadn't seen you for a year...it reminded us both that you never really know someone. You can think you do...you may think you know that one person more than you know yourself but...people can still do things that surprise you...shock you...hurt you" At those words Booth lowered his gaze. "It just made us think...made us talk...and I mean really talk. We realised that we still wanted different things...she wanted to travel...see more of the world...I wanted to settle...start the family we'd always wanted. Turned out...we couldn't make our two dreams mesh so...she left."

An uncomfortable silence descended on the pair...Jack uncomfortable with just how much he'd said...and Booth with the reminder of the pain he'd caused. The waitress returned to their table, causing them both to jump as she placed their coffees in front of them. They both sent her a small smile of thanks and she left, leaving the two alone again. They both took a sip of their drink before Booth raised his gaze to look Jack in the eye.

"How is she?" Booth asked in a broken whisper, the pain clear to see in his eyes.

Jack was still focused on himself, and answered without looking at him, missing to look on his faced.

"She's fine...sunning herself on a beach somewhere. She comes back every now and then...it's good." Jack said, a small smile on his face at the thought of his ex-wife.

Silence followed his statement, causing him to glance up at Booth. Only then did he see the pain on his face, and he realised who he was referring too. Jacks smile disappeared, and his gaze hardened.

"By 'she' I assume you mean Temperance?" Jack asked cuttingly.

Booth gave a sad nod of his head, so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice the name Jack called her by, and how weird it was to hear from his lips.

"She's fine...no thanks to you. Happy. Content. Perfect." Jack said, his voice softening at the last word.

"I'm glad" Booth said, nodding his head to reaffirm that fact. "I am. Is she..." he paused before gathering his courage, knowing that this question wouldn't go down well, but needing to ask it. "Is she seeing anyone?"

Jack stared at him with disbelief in his eyes.

"Is she seeing someone? Is she seeing someone" Jacks voice started to rise, causing the few patrons of the diner to glance over at them. "You have the audacity to ask that? After everything? God, I just don't believe you...what? Hurting her once wasn't enough?" Jack rolled off one question after the other, not giving Booth a chance to respond. He was finally saying all he wished he'd said six years ago, and he wasn't going to stop until he'd voiced all he needed to. "Six years ago you goaded her into declaring her love for you...in front of everyone and then you what? Tell her you love her? Of course you don't...you introduce us all to your fiancée!" Jack yelled this at Booth, causing him to wince.

Booth went to respond but Jack didn't allow him to. He continued on...his voice quieter...though Booth could hear the anger in his voice.

"The fiancée we knew nothing about, and then you left...for a year! One year...and how did you tell her? Oh wait...I forgot...you didn't! She received an official letter informing her that your partnership had been dissolved, as you'd transferred to a different branch. How could you Booth? After everything...how could you?" By the end, Jack was almost begging for an answer...not just for Temperance but for all of them. She wasn't the only one he left.

Booth stared blankly at Jack for a moment, attempting to gather his thoughts. He wished he had a good excuse...something that would explain his actions but he just...didn't.

"I thought...I thought it'd be easier. For everyone." He said softly.

Jack let out a harsh laugh.

"For you, you mean?"

Irritation flashed in Booth's eyes for a second before he buried it.

"Fine Jack! I left for me! That what you wanted to hear? I proposed in a moment of panic alright? And then I left, unable to be around her anymore. Unable to spend every day looking at her and seeing the pain I caused. Happy now?" Booth asked.

"Happy?" Jack said incredulously "You know what Booth? I should never have come. We no longer have anything to say to each other. There's just one more thing I need to know." Jack said "Why did you send it? You must have known she'd come."

There was no need for Booth to ask what Jack was talking about...he knew exactly what he meant.

"I mean we don't see you for a year...and then you invite us to your wedding!" Jack said, his shock at this fact having not lessened in the five years since it happened.

"I didn't expect her to come!" Booth burst out after a moment. "I wanted you all there...and I couldn't not invite her! But I...God, I didn't expect to see her. Seeing her there...looking so...beautiful...fragile...it almost killed me." Booth said, and Jack could hear the pain in his voice...see the sincerity in his face.

" Booth...despite everything...she still thought of you as her best friend. You know her...or you knew her..." At that clarification Booth's eyes flashed with pain but Jack carried on regardless, needing him to hear this. "She compartmentalized until it nearly killed her. The man she loved...and the man who was her best friend...they were two different people to her. Seeing the man she loved marrying someone else...a stranger...it killed her. Seeing her best friend get married...she was happy for him. That's why she went...she wanted to be with you on your 'special' day. The fact that that was the last time she saw you...I think that still prays on her mind at times. Not often but every now and then...she gets this look in her eye and I know she's thinking of you."

At Jack's last line, Booth had turned his gaze to look out the window, losing himself in his memories, causing him to miss the flash of pain in Jack's eyes as he said that. The two men sat in silence for a few minutes, both lost in their own thoughts. It wasn't until the waitress came to remove their now empty cups that Jack remembered Booth's original question, and he was reluctant to bring it up now but knew he needed to...even if it wasn't going to be easy.

"Booth" Jack said. At the sound of his name, Booth pulled his mind back to the present, and turned his sad gaze onto Jack. Jack wasn't sure where to start, and in the end he decided on blunt honesty, knowing it would be easier on both of them. "She's seeing someone...has been for awhile now."

Booth nodded his head sadly, not at all surprised but slightly shocked at how much it hurt, even after all this time.

"Do you know him?" he asked.

Jack's eyes shifted slightly, and something flashed in his eyes before he masked it.

"Yes."

"Is he...good for her?" Booth asked softly. Jack nodded slightly. "Does he...care for her? The way he should?"

"He loves her" Jack said simply.

Booth smiled softly.

"Good" he whispered, speaking more to himself than Jack. "That's good." He was silent for a second before asking the question he had come here for. "Would she...see me?" he asked Jack, almost pleading to him with his eyes.

"I think she would but maybe...maybe it's better to leave it Booth. She's happy...content...and it's been five years...she's moved on." Jack said softly, not wanting to cause him more pain which surprised him. When he'd arrived he wanted to hate him...hurt him...but seeing the broken man in front of him, he realised that there was no need...he already hated himself.

"I understand" Booth said quietly.

An awkward silence descended over the table again, until Jack started to stand up.

"Well...I should be off. I have somewhere I need to be."

Booth glanced up at him and noted the soft smile adorning his face and he smiled.

"I didn't ask. You seeing anyone?"

Jack glanced down at Booth, the smile still on his face.

"I am" he said softly, saying no more.

Booth could see he wasn't going to say anything further, and understood though it still hurt. He no longer had the right to know. He reached for his wallet, but Jack waved him off.

"I've got this Booth" he said and fished out his wallet. He threw a few bills onto the table and went to put his wallet away, swearing as he dropped it on the table allowing it to fall open.

"Shit" Jack swore and reached for it, but Booth picked it up first.

He went to close it and pass it back, but glanced down as he did so and froze. He stared down at the picture decorating the inside of Jacks wallet. His eyes softened as he took in the soft wavy brown hair, laughing blue eyes and the happiness that adorned her beautiful face and he smile sadly. He allowed his gaze to shift to the man with his arms wrapped around her and the pain that flashed across his face caused Jack to look away. Booth continued to stare down at the picture for another moment, before closing the wallet and passing it back to Jack.

There was nothing more for either of them to say, so Jack turned from the table and slowly made his way towards the door. Just as he opened the door he paused at the sound of a voice behind him.

"Jack" Booth said.

Jack turned to see Booth stood at the table, gazing at him sadly.

"I'm glad...I'm glad it's you. Just...look after her."

Jack started back at him silently, before giving an almost imperceptible nod of his head before turning and leaving the Diner, knowing that he'd just seen Booth for the last time.


End file.
